Here’s the scene in Northwest Indiana, where businesses await snowfall. (CBS)
Reporting Derrick Blakley
PORTAGE, Ind. (CBS) – Some folks in Portage, Ind. can’t wait for a major snow storm.
At Allen’s Snow Removal, a light coating of snow dusted the plows and the rocky ground. It may be a nuisance for some, but to staff it’s manna from heaven.
Allen Welp spent the day fixing the snow blowers his truck crews use to clear driveways and sidewalks. Because when the first snow flies, the phones start ringing.
“They want to make sure they’re on our list for snow removal contracts and make sure they get taken care of first,” Welp says.
The plows are ready, the trucks filled with salt. The business hopes this year will be better than last year’s almost snowless winter, when business was down about 75 percent.
“All his employees, they’re not working now. It’s hard, especially Christmas time, too,” Ed Sullivan says.
At Portage Ace Hardware, the snow brushes and little car shovels aren’t out of sight, just out of mind.
Back in the storeroom, owner Albert Bumbales still has snow shovels he ordered two years ago.
“I got 16 pallets of salt left from last year. Not enough snow,” he says.
They usually sell two or three pallets of salt a week by this time of year. So far, they’ve sold one bag.
